Dark Tides
by Gaara
Summary: This story takes place shortly after Master Chief's story on the original Halo. However, the UNSC has discovered that there is more then one Halo...and more to worry about then the Covenant. Please give me your input people...a bit heavy on the language.
1. Default Chapter

HALO: Dark Tides ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------  
  
"Dammit, those bastards have us pinned down!" Filchek grunted and ducked back behind the steel crate he and his comrades were stationed behind as purple needle fire spiked into it.  
  
"There's no way out, we're gonna die! We're all going to fucking die!" Archer cried as he huddled against the crate, he had broken out into a cold sweat and was becoming delusional.  
  
"Shut up! This is no time to flip out man!" Sanchez shook him slightly and clutched his rifle ready to fire at the first Covenant to show its face.  
  
"We've got to find a way outta here!" Filchek peeked his head out again and made a quick count of the enemy, twelve in all. He ducked back around and raised his rifle as sparks rained down from the shattered lights overhead.  
  
"Eight Grunts, three Elites, and one Hunter. We may not be able to make it out of here alive but we can take as many of them with us as possible. The Hunter will be the biggest problem." He spun around the corner, crouched and aimed his rifle, only to be met with darkness. The Covenant were gone. Filcheck stood up and looked around, violet blood was sprayed all over the walls and floor.  
  
"What's going on here?" Ramirez questioned as he switched the flashlight of his sniper rifle on. Filchek cautiously stepped forward into the darkness, letting the light from Ramirez's gun guide him. Archer didn't move as the other two headed out.  
  
"What could have possibly happened? One minute we're pinned down by a squad of Covenant and the next they're all dead." Ramirez made his way towards a large opening in the hallway that led down into darkness.  
  
"Go get Archer, whatever got those aliens may still be around here." Filchek ran back as Ramirez headed down the narrow passage.  
  
"Oh shit, Archer was right, we're all dead!" Filchek stumbled back into the light of Ramirez's rifle.  
  
"What's wrong? Where's Archer?" Filchek tried to control his breathing as he flipped on the light of his assault rifle. He shook his head as he urged Ramirez to push forward.  
  
"Archer was gone when I got back, all that was left was his pistol and-oh shit! We're fucking dead!" Ramirez paled as he continued to move forward.  
  
"What could have gotten him? Do you think the Covenant fooled us into a trap?" Filchek shook his head; they were now in complete darkness aside from their flashlights.  
  
"I don't think so, there's no way they could have sneaked up behind us." They both spun as something crashed onto the steel grating underfoot, a loud metallic clank.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Ramirez stepped forward, back the way they had come from.  
  
"I'm gonna go check it out, cover me but be on the lookout for movement." Ramirez walked past him, his flashlight casting an eerie glow as he turned down the hall.  
  
"What the hell is this thing?" Ramirez knelt down over the mutilated corpse. The Covenant body looked like it was covered in some type of dough- like substance. Ramirez touched the substance and cringed as it came off on his fingers.  
  
"Hey Filchek, I think you should see this." Silence answered him. Ramirez turned to see that there was no sign of Filchek's light. He slowly stood up and turned to peer down the hall; Filchek was nowhere in sight.  
  
"Where the hell did he go?" Ramirez slowly turned back around to continue to examine the dead body. However, the dead body was no longer dead. Ramirez screamed as the creature leapt at him and slashed him across the face. All Ramirez could see was red as his body sank to the floor and he lost consciousness.  
  
"Nine hours ago, we lost communication with the reconnaissance squad at HALO Omega. Our sensors show minimal signs of life on the planet, but there is still a chance that our men are alive. I propose we send a rescue team to HALO Omega to search for any surviving members of the squad." The captain stood calmly at attention as he waited for an answer from the council.  
  
"Negative, we will not condole a course of action that could end in the loss of more men. With the current situation on Earth and throughout the galaxy, we need every available man there. When the situation on Earth is resolved, we may consider sending a rescue squad to check." The captain grunted and tried not to let his anger show through.  
  
"If we wait that long, they'll be dead! With all due respect sirs, I would like to send my men down to HALO Omega to pull out any remaining forces."  
  
"Permission denied. Captain Veers, we cannot allow you to risk the lives of more men!"  
  
"I am going to HALO Omega with or without your permission!" The captain spat as he turned and began to walk out of the room.  
  
"Captain, if you leave this ship, we will have you kicked out of the UNSC!"  
  
"If I don't leave this ship, whatever killed those men may destroy the human race. It is my duty to my planet and my fellow man to keep that from happening. Remove me from the UNSC, but I am still going to save those soldiers!"  
  
"You have no proof that any of them are left alive!" The captain stopped as the door slid open.  
  
"They're still down there, I trained them. Even if they aren't.I can't leave them without at least searching for them."  
  
"Captain Veers, are your men ready? We're almost at the drop point now." Veers looked around the cramped Pelican. He had seven men with him, all of which he had hand picked. They were loading up their ammunition and checking their batteries and supplies.  
  
"We're as ready as we'll ever be. After you drop us off, get out of here. If we don't contact you by o' six hundred, leave." Veers turned back to his men.  
  
"All right, we have approximately eight hours to find any survivors and get out of here. Synchronize watches, we land in five."  
  
"Uh, sir, I think you might want to look at this." Veers looked out the front of the Pelican, down at the large group of living organisms on the ground that seemed to be watching the ship.  
  
"Do you think it's safe to land?"  
  
"I've got incoming missiles from below, evasive maneuvers!" The co- pilot screamed as he lurched the ship to the right. The pilot leveled the ship off again and brought them down above the creatures, ten feet above the ground.  
  
"This is the closest I can get Captain. If your team is going you better go now before another rocket tries to rip us a new one." Veers nodded as he headed to the lowering ramp.  
  
"Is it safe out there sir?" Veers shook his head as he looked down at the huge swarm of half-living creatures gathered beneath them. Without warning, one of the creatures leapt through the air, landing inside the back of the Pelican and screaming inhumanly as its head turned towards the captain. Veers raised his rifle and fired the rounds, point-blank into the monstrosity's face.  
  
"It's not safe out there, we gotta get this ship to pull up!" Veers moved to head into the pilot's area when an explosion rocked the ship violently. The men yelled in surprise as the Pelican was ripped in half and they all went falling to the ground. The monsters below began to hiss and moan as the marines fell, fresh meat had just been delivered.  
  
"Take this bastards!" Sanders screamed as the butt of his rifle connected with the face of one of his attackers, resulting in a sickening, yet very satisfying crack. The creature humanoid looking creature went down as Sanders raised his rifle and fired at the next one in line, it looked vaguely like a Covenant Elite. A plasma grenade flew from its body as it went down, Sanders picked it up and smiled.  
  
"A God-send if I've ever seen one." He watched the monsters as they circled him, none of them seemed to have weapons, but they all looked ready to attack. Sanders found the smallest of the creatures and ran at it, knocking it down and tossing the grenade onto it as he took off, away from the group. *Damn, that grenade won't go off in time, it's too slow.* Sanders dove forward and turned his body back, targeting the pulsing blue light. He squeezed off a burst of three bullets and laughed as the grenade exploded, incinerating the whole lot.  
  
"Take that you fucking assholes!" Sanders quit celebrating and raised his rifle up, his trigger finger trembling, as one of the monsters stood and ran at him.  
  
"Fuck no." He flung the rifle onto his back, letting it dangle on it's strap as he raised his shotgun and waited.  
  
"Eat this you piece of shit!" The explosive shell from the shotgun was enough to rip the monster in half, and that wasn't even at point-blank. He turned and ran, he had to find the commander.  
Veers grunted and let out a dry cough as he pulled himself out of the cloud of smoke. Those monsters weren't far away, and he couldn't afford to be caught without his rifle. He raised his pistol, made sure it was loaded, and ran for the nearest structure. It was a tall compound, the kind that he was unaware even existed in the Covenant society. Then again, the HALOs were not creations of the Covenant.  
  
It was dark inside the compound the only lights in the building besides Veers' flashlight were sparks shooting from the lights that ran down the narrow corridors. His team had been scattered in the crash, he himself was unaware of how he survived the incident. After going up countless ramps, Veers finally found a small outcropping. It was dimly lit and had only the one way in and there seemed to be no vents in the facility. He could wait here for any surviving squad members while he tried to think up a plan of action; hoping that he wouldn't be attacked while he did this. Something moved up ahead and he pulled his pistol up, aiming down the hall. A large shadow appeared at the end of the hall from where he had just come.  
  
"Stop, come any closer and I'll blow yer brains out!" The figure raised his arm.  
  
"Hold your fire commander, I'm one of your guys." Veers turned on his flashlight; the man at the end of the hall was indeed one of his. He was a tall, muscular black man, his assault rifle was slung over his shoulder and he was carrying his shotgun.  
  
"Werner! Was there anybody else with you?" He shook his head solemnly as he made his way down the hall.  
  
"Negative, I made it out alone. We lost almost half the squad, sir. Some of us made it away, but we could not regroup due to the overwhelming number of enemy units. On top of that, our transport was completely destroyed, we don't have a way off." The sound of the monsters broke off the conversation as they both turned.  
  
"They're on their way up after us, what should we do sir?" Veers thought for a moment before pulling a small plastic explosive from his pack.  
  
"Werner, do you have any rope? Anything that we could use to safely get out of here from the very top?" Werner shook his head.  
  
"The only thing I have that might have is my radio." He pulled it out and handed it to Veers. He nodded and placed the explosive on the wall, setting it to remote detonate on his command.  
  
"This is going to be a long shot, and once we're at the top we won't get a chance to go down through the building." Veers turned on the radio and put out a distress call on all the frequencies.  
  
"This is Captain Veers to UNSC naval fleet. My men and I are stranded on HALO Omega, and are in desperate need of evac. Please send a Pelican for evacuation, I will send out coordinates once we reach a potential safety zone." He strapped the radio to his waist and turned to Werner.  
  
"Let's get moving."  
  
"Oh shit, how the fuck am I supposed to find the commander? I don't even know if he's alive and those freaks are right behind me." As if to prove his statement, one of the creatures jumped onto his back and caused him to stumble to the ground. Sanders pulled it off his back and blasted its face with his shotgun before jumping to his feet and continuing. Sanders almost cried out in happiness when he saw a Warthog appear right over the horizon.  
  
"I just make it to that baby and I can leave these bastards in the dust!" Sanders smiled slightly and pulled a fragmentation grenade form his belt. As the pin fell to the ground, he tossed the grenade over his shoulder. He counted to four and looked back in time to see the grenade go off, sending some of his attackers sailing through the air.  
  
"One more, gotta be more precise this time." He pulled his last grenade from his belt and tossed it, spinning around and bringing up his pistol  
  
"Eat this fuckers!" He waited as the grenade flew over the center of the enemies and pulled the trigger. Another second and his bullet connected with the grenade, detonating it and sending all of the monsters to the ground. Few of them were dead, but it would buy him enough time to reach the Warthog. Finally, he reached the vehicle, jumping into the back and manning the gun.  
  
"Come get some." Sanders gritted his teeth and fired away as the monsters came within range. The bullets erupted from the weapon rapidly, shredding through the opposing force. Only a few seconds into the fight, all of the creatures were down.  
  
"Thank god, I didn't even see them coming." Sanders looked in the drivers seat and growled.  
  
"Jackson you asshole! Why didn't you bother to come back for any of us!" The pale man shrugged as he started up the Warthog, taking it across the hilly regions.  
  
"I didn't have a weapon and I didn't want to die. Where are we heading?"  
  
"We need to find the commander and find a way off this artificial piece of shit. Do you have any clue where the hell the commander went?" Jackson looked back at him.  
  
"Sorry, I don't have a clue. However, I did see a small outpost a few miles from here. Want to check it out?" Sanders dropped down into the passenger's seat and tossed his assault rifle into Jackson's lap.  
  
"Let's go, just make sure you've got my back once we leave the safety of this four-wheeled wonder." Jackson nodded and tore up dirt as he did a ninety degree turn to the left.  
  
"No problem, I just needed a gun is all. Let's find Captain Veers and kill any alien bastards that try to stop us!" 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Nowhere to Run  
"This idea is suicide captain, there's no way we can get a Pelican to our position in time to save ourselves from those things." Veers smiled slightly as they went up yet another steep ramp. He placed one of his explosives on the wall as they reached the top.  
  
"Don't worry too much. The Pelican isn't our escape route. I've got something else planned for our escape." A shrill cry from ahead silenced him. Veers looked at Werner, they both nodded in silent agreement, raising their weapons. The next ramp leading up would be at the end of the expansive and uncomfortably dark lobby area they were passing through. There seemed to be a pattern to this structure, every tenth floor would bring them to a large room that had three ramps aside from the one they came up from. One ascending and three descending.  
  
"False alarm?" Werner asked as they made it to the next ramp.  
  
"Highly unlikely, stay on your guard. And don't forget about the ones following us. Are you good? As far as ammo is concerned I mean." Werner patted the pack strapped to his waist.  
  
"More then enough ammo to waste these things. Well, I hope it is. You?" Veers held up his pistol and patted his own pack.  
  
"More then enough as long as I hit what I'm aiming for. I doubt these things can survive too many shots to the head. Don't worry about me. Getting my squad out is my first priority at this point." They went silent as another cry from ahead pierced their ears. Werner growled, something was about to meet the muzzle of his rifle. All that the thing would have to look forward to is a quick death.  
  
**********  
  
"Shit, its dark in here." Sanders whispered harshly as Jackson followed him into the dark compound. The compound looked like a human outpost, two stories tall. The light on Jackson's forehead came to life, illuminating anything it touched.  
  
"That's what flashlights are for." Sanders looked at him and growled.  
  
"Shut up Jackson." He smirked at Sanders and they both made their way into the darkness. They went for almost ten minutes before something finally moved up ahead of them. Jackson's light moved towards the noise in time to see something being dragged out of view, it looked to be a human.  
  
"So what do we do? It's gotta be one of those things." Sanders smiled as he turned on his light and chambered the next round in his shotgun.  
  
"We shoot the fucker first, if he's still moving afterwards we shoot him again." Sanders replied with a wry grin. He scratched the stubble on his face and then turned the corner. Jackson nodded as he followed Sanders. All they found was a mutilated human body, his face had been ripped open by something; Sanders had a feeling that it hadn't been the poor guy's pet cat either. Jackson got his attention and pointed to the far wall at a stairwell.  
  
"Let's check it out, what have we got to lose besides our lives?" Jackson shrugged, they quickly moved through the darkness to the stairs. They ran up the three flights in less then a minute and quickly began to search the second floor.  
  
"A comm. system, Jackson get over here!" Jackson slung the rifle onto his shoulder and began messing with the system as he pulled on the headset. He grinned at Sanders.  
  
"It works. I'm going to see if I can get in touch with Werner. Since he's our communications expert he should have something on him." Jackson flipped a switch and put out an all frequency broadcast.  
  
"Werner, this is Jackson: respond." Sanders paled and turned around as he heard a loud crash from downstairs, something had just broken into the outpost.  
  
**********  
  
"Werner, this is Jackson: respond." Veers pulled the communicator from his belt and looked at Werner, somebody was alive.  
  
"Jackson this is Veers, where are you?" There was a moment of silence before Jackson came on again.  
  
"Captain, we've got a situation here. Those monsters just busted down the doors. They're converging on our position all around the outpost as far as I can tell from this radar. They've completely swarmed the first floor. We-" Jackson cut off as rifle fire blasted through the communicator.  
  
"Sanders is with me, we're going to try to make it back to our Warthog. Once we get back to it, I'll radio you again. Jackson out." Veers cursed as he strapped the communicator back to his waist.  
  
"Don't worry captain, Sanders is one of the best. He can think his way out of almost any situation. His mouth is usually spitting out every four letter word he can think of as he does, but he'll get them outta there. In the meantime, we have to finish our plan here." Veers nodded as he turned to continued, leaving the stairwell and stepping out onto the next floor. Veers stumbled back as he came face to face with one of the monsters. Werner growled as he stepped past Veers and slammed the muzzle of his rifle into the mutilated face of the creature. He squeezed the trigger and six bullets erupted from the muzzle, obliterating its skull as the bullets flew straight out the back. It fell to the floor.  
  
"Sorry Werner, I wasn't expecting that." Werner nodded.  
  
"No apologies necessary captain, my trigger finger was beginning to get a little itchy." They stepped over the corpse and quickly moved to the next set of ramps. The ramps were built exactly like stairwells, only with ramps in the place of stairs. Veers cried out as he fell forward, something had landed on his back. Werner turned to see the same creature he had just killed rip open Veers' back. A solid blow from the butt of Werner's rifle sent the monster sprawling long enough for him to pull Veers up and fire at it. The thing writhed in pain, then stopped moving. Just to be safe, Werner brought the butt of his rifle down hard into its skull.  
  
"Are you okay captain?" Veers nodded and wiped the sweat from his forehead as he waved him forward.  
  
"I'm fine, let's get moving. The top of the building shouldn't be too far."  
  
**********  
  
"Fuck! This is insane. Where the hell did all of these things come from! Shit, we can't fight them forever! I'm running outta ammo Jackson!" Jackson's rifle erupted with sound as he picked up a communicator and joined in.  
  
"Any plans Sanders?" Sanders began to reload his shotgun and cried out as one of the things jumped onto him, knocking him to the ground. Sanders growled, hitting the thing hard with his gun and the pulling himself up. He grabbed the attacker and threw it into the wall. It screeched as it flew through a window, shattering the whole pane of reinforced glass.  
  
"That bastard just gave me a plan, we're gonna jump." Jackson fired at another as it came out of the stairwell. He cleared out the doorway enough to pull a grenade out and drop it to the bottom of the stairs.  
  
"Let's get going, we need to make it back to the Warthog!"  
  
"I know that you asshole! Just follow my lead." He leapt out of the window, landing on the roof of the first floor and firing as the one he had thrown through the window leapt at him. The shot ripped off its head. Jackson followed shortly. They both fell to ground level and sprinted towards the Warthog.  
  
"Those things are going to be all over us in about thirty seconds!" Sanders grunted as he stumbled, but caught himself before he fell.  
  
"Shit! What the hell are those things?"  
  
"Don't worry about that, just run!" Sanders looked back to see the things leaping from the window and landing on the ground, running much faster then them. He looked back ahead to see they had reached the Warthog. Jackson jumped into the driver's seat as Sanders leapt into the back and turned the turret around.  
  
"Go Jackson, what are you waiting for!"  
  
"I'm going, just hold on!" The Warthog lurched forward violently, Jackson forgot to release the brake.  
  
"You dumbass!" Jackson grunted and then took off again after releasing the brake. Sanders pressed down the firing mechanism, spraying lead across the flood of monsters. *Heh, flood. The name suits 'em.* Sanders growled as the things began to irritate him, for every one he killed two more replaced it.  
  
"Where are we going Jackson?" He gritted his teeth as the jerking motion of the gun began to get to him.  
  
"I've got a fix on the captain, we're heading to his coordinates now." Sanders stopped firing as one of the Flood leapt onto the gun. He fired his shotgun at it, knocking it off. The monsters trampled all over it as they continued after them.  
  
"Sanders, we have a problem!" Sanders looked over his shoulder at Jackson.  
  
"Up ahead Sanders, look!" He slowly looked up, and smiled as he saw it. The canyon would be no problem. The Warthog could jump it easily.  
  
"Don't worry Jackson, this thing can clear that, jump it full throttle!" Sanders smiled slightly as they came closer to the canyon, but his smile vanished as he turned around. One of the Flood had a rocket launcher in hand and there was already a rocket flying straight for the back of the Warthog. It missed barely, but it still was enough to give them a lot of trouble. The rocket exploded beneath the back tires and sent the Warthog spinning end over end as they sailed through the air. Sanders squeezed his eyes shut, if this was the end he was happy to have died fighting. 


End file.
